The United States should intervene in Syria

Several debates have been going on as to whether the U.S. should intervene in Syria. Some have been questioning why the U.S has not made any intervention yet considering the dreadful situation that the country has plunged into. President Obama announced that using chemical weapons by Assad forces is a red line and would be unacceptable, a statement that makes you feel that killing people using other weapons is not that bad of a thing, and although Assad did indeed use chemical weapons on the defenceless population of Ghouta, president Obama apparently could not keep up to his word.

However, the argument that should be put on the table is why are people expecting a heroic action from the U.S to save Syria and bring it to salvation?

The simplest answer to that is because the U.S has the highest number of foreign interventions in all times. A country that has been able to spread and pertain its hegemony for a long time. It is, after all, a country that has over 1000 military bases all around the world, and its interventions have been quite significant. From overthrowing foreign governments that oppose its ideology and interpretation of democracy, to killing innocent people in the war on terror by committing terror itself. In a matter of fact listing all the countries that the U.S has intervened in, in a direct or indirect way, would take a long amount of time.

Take for example two of the recent U.S interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In Iraq, the courageous intervention was an attempt, or so they claimed, to bring down Saddam Husain and his assumed nuclear weapons, which were never found. However, the invasion drifted into a war that lasted 8 years, during which the Iraqi oil was exploited. Before the invasion the Iraqi oil was completely nationalized, after the invasion, however, it became greatly privatized by foreign companies to benefit from. 80% of oil production is being exported out of Iraq, while Iraqis are struggling to meet their basic needs with 25% of the population living in poverty.

The death toll exceeded 800,000 people. Even though the invasion took place in 2003 and Saddam Husain was ousted and captured during the same year, the war did not end till end of 2011. It was a war for oil with no doubt about it. The invasion was well planned ahead with the purpose of taking over Iraq’s oil, not to bring down a dictator or to relieve the world from the threat of “invisible” WMDs.

In the case of Afghanistan, the U.S invasion was merely retaliation for the 9/11 bombing which Al-Qaida was accused for, even though it was never proven. No hesitation, no delays. The U.S had to hit back immediately to prove its deterrence capacity, which was proven very well in Afghanistan as more than 30,000 people were killed. Mush more disappointing, Al-Qaeda was not even close to diminishing, it became more powerful and more widely spread across other countries. Furthermore, opium trade has increased exponentially since the beginning of the invasion. The U.S installed Hamid Karzai as president who is failing to restore order in the country and dismantle Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

President Obama stated that troops will withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. More than 10 years of war with a fake enemy subverted Afghanistan, crushed it socially and economically, and turned it into a haven for terrorists.

Syria fell into civil war between the Assad army and the opposition forces, after peaceful protests took place two years ago. With Russia and Iran, major Syria allies, backing the Assad regime, the process of overthrowing the dictator and his regime is taking a long time. Thousands have been either killed or displaced due to the atrocities committed by the current regime. The number of refugees is over 2.5 million, and the numbers of who were killed is 100,000. Moreover, a sectarian conflict is rising and spilling of the border to neighboring countries. The Sunni opposition is fighting the Alawite Assad regime, with Shiite Hezbollah siding by the regime the conflict is getting even worse.

Thus, “the United States should intervene in Syria” is rather an absurd argument. An intervention only comes with an interest. The U.S has indeed a great interest in Syria, because removing Assad regime from power means removing Iran’s and Russia’s only ally in the area, in addition to protecting Israel from any implications the war might cause. However, Syria is better off without the U.S intervention which will draw only subversion and exploiting. Should the U.S intervene in Syria it would not be difficult to predict the future for the country, Syria will get out of its civil war and enter a new war with a western power.